Epiphany
by Counter Spark
Summary: The Korean man brought about the image, and the image brought about the realization. She loved him- it was scientific. Charlotte/Daniel oneshot.


**Title: **Epiphany

**Author: **Counter Spark

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, so basically I'm not nearly smart enough or clever enough to have invented Lost. Just saying, I don't own anybody. But oh, how I wish I did.

**Summary: **The Korean man brought about the image, and the image brought about the realization. She loved him- it was scientific. Charlotte/Daniel oneshot.

**Author's Note: **So I know I said I was more or less done with the fanfiction (check the profile out), this one was just _begging_ to be written. I mean, come on. I think there's so much going on between these two on Lost that's being ignored for other less interesting character's screen time (UH, Jack much?), so I just had to write this. I wrote it on a whim in one sitting, and I like it immensely. Hopefully you will, too, friends. Please enjoy!

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It just sort of...dawned on her. Like an epiphany or a flash of fate- it all came to her at once, truth crashing down on her and making her legs feel weak. She watched numbly as the Korean man walked away into the darkness, not even able to feel anger. Every ounce of her was focused on the realization...the truth. And as for that, she didn't even know what to feel. If she felt anything, it was sadness, but even that seemed muted and dull. What if everything changed? It had been natural before, like two targets floating thoughtlessly to a fixed point, but now her path was skewed. Thanks to the Korean...

She hadn't expected it, that swell of fear as he looked at her with his small, dark eyes, speaking in the fluidly rhythmic language that she'd loved so much when she was younger. Saying he would hurt him. That he would break his fingers. Cause him pain. She had always viewed Daniel as someone who needed taking care of..._like a lost little puppy who can't find his way home_, she mused, sitting down next to the fire and staring blankly into the red, dancing flames. At first she had seen him as a burden. Her heart burned at the thought of this now- of how wrong she had been. She didn't know him then. She had no _clue_. But now, the time on the island...time that seemed to move so dreamily slow...had brought them closer. Had forced them to be closer. _That's how things work out when everyone else is pointing a gun at you and forcing you into headlocks..._

He was so brave. He'd taken it upon himself to be her protector, holding her arm and insisting to walk in front of her. At night she could hear him through their tent, walking around restlessly, talking to the other sleepless survivors. They usually weren't too nice, but he always defended her. Not even himself, just her. She would grin against her pillow, always staying awake until she heard him enter the tent and lay down on the other end, pretending to be long asleep. She found that she couldn't sleep without him there. Without the steady rhythm of his breathing. Sometimes she could hear him muttering in his sleep...matters of metaphysics and subjects she'd never understand. But once- she'll never forget it- she heard her name. Clear and loud into the pitch blackness of the night. _"Charlotte?" _It sounded shaky- worried, as though she was lost or in danger. She wanted to crawl across the few feet of sand between them and snuggle beside him- whisper, "I'm here," and rest her head on his chest. But that wouldn't have been appropriate, she had thought at the time. So she lay awake for the rest of that dreamless night, thinking about how far away he seemed to be in their relatively small tent.

But even then she hadn't thought the experience too important; she'd almost completely forgotten it by the time morning came, waking after perhaps and hour of restless sleep. It had been impulsive, she thought. Nothing to dwell on. But now everything was different.

She started to cry. A sharp bolt of horror ran through her at this- when was the last time she had really cried? Years, at least. It was nothing she liked to do; a woman like her wasn't supposed to show weakness. It was demeaning- it could lose you respect. But she didn't care anymore; not now, with the realization that she was in love with Daniel Faraday hitting her stomach like a ton of bricks. She knew that this was a absolutely horrible time to fall in love. Not when she was fighting everyday not to get another bullet in the stomach, this time sans vest. It would get in the way, she knew it. But the image the Korean man brought up- the image of Daniel crying out in pain, hurting because she was too damn stubborn to tell the truth...it made her body feel hollow and weak. It made her gut feel like a leaf being tossed around in the wind, somersaulting in the cool, sea breeze. It made her feel scared. And then the epiphany came, which brought her to now, sitting before the fire with little trails of tears on her cheeks. _Looking like a bloody fool_, she thought, trying to get rid of the image the Korean man had planted in her exhausted mind. But it was useless, and now her mind began to buzz, thinking about what she would do next. Would she tell him? Just spill it all out at once, like a sort of word-vomit, fast so she couldn't feel the embarrassment? Or would she keep it inside, like she always did? Things were easier that way. It was the route she'd always taken, hiding her feelings. Painless and simple. Even now she knew she could never tell him. Could never be that vulnerable. It would hurt, yes...she knew that plainly, but time would heal that wound. She had to be smart now. She didn't have time to feel_. So it's settled_, she thought, wiping her eyes. _So why am I still crying?_

"Charlotte?"

She yelped, falling over the end of the log that sat before the fire and into the sand, grains against her back and shoulders. She looked upon at him and tried to force a grin...he was smiling at her. "Daniel."

He looked baffled, smiling down at her and trying to look apologetic. _That's the thing about him_, she noted silently to herself. _There's no point in him trying to look a certain way...it's written all over his face._ He held out his hand. "Are we a little...jumpy?" She realized something at this moment. She loved his voice. The hesitant, sort of mysterious tone to it. At first she had found it annoying, but now it was something she'd grown to love.

She laughed lightly, taking his hand and letting him help her up from the ground, sand scratching her bare back. "Well, it _is_ the dead of the night, and you _did_ just sneak out from the darkness, so yeah, I'd say I'm a bit jumpy." His hand felt cool against hers.

"Oh, sorry." He laughed and sat down on the log, waiting for her to join him. She stared at him for a moment, his slim, black silhouette against the bright, licking flames of the fire. She loved him. There was no question to it now. Heart skipping a little and mind trying to ignore that, she sat down next to him, almost knowing what would come next, feeling the tears that were still wet on her cheek. And just as she felt the orange glow of the fire warming her face, it happened.

A short intake of breath, a hand on her arm. "Charlotte? Are you...crying?" It seemed as though he didn't know what he was going to say next. It seemed like that a lot, actually. "What happened?" His voice at this sounded stronger, more solid, and she saw him looking around in the corner of her eye, looking for anything that might've caused her tears. "Did somebody hurt you, Charlotte? I saw Jin talking to you earlier...what did he say? I'll go handle it if you want me to, really...you and I are a team, you know, and if he said something to you, I'll go and have a word-"

She cut him off, voice weaker than she'd like it to be. "Do you want to know what he said, Dan?" He fell silent, and she turned to look him straight in his face, knowing in a split second that she wasn't going to keep it all inside this time. She couldn't. There was no point in trying. Not when he was right here, looking at her like that. "He told me in Korean-"

"You speak Korean?"

"Yes, Daniel. He told me that he knew I could speak Korean. You know how Jin and his wife were jabbering on in their language when we went to the medical station, and they kept looking over at us with those cheeky little smirks? I knew what they were saying. And apparently I'm crap at hiding it because he knew I heard them and I understood."

His hand slid down to hers, cool skin against her own, which felt feverish and moist. "What were they saying?" Voice dipping down an octave, he added, "Are they plotting against us?"

"No, Daniel. That wasn't it at all. It was actually very childish, all of it." She paused, sighing deeply. "No, they were just saying how they wondered if I knew you liked me."

"Whoa." A strange mixture of emotions flickered over his face, and at the moment a look of incredulity overtook him. He opened his mouth as though he were going to say something else, and then simply settled for, "Whoa," again, this time much softer. He cleared his throat and added in a scratchy sort of voice, "Really?"

"Yes, really. So he pulled me aside and told me he knew I understood Korean."

A breath of relief. "So it's not a big deal then...is it?"

"That's not the end of it. I told him I didn't, just to see if I could keep an edge over the two of them. You know, incase if everybody decided to get together and kill us both in our sleep, I could hear them whispering about it and have a head start. So I lied, and he knew." She closed her eyes again, a fresh stream of burning tears escaping her eyes, the image taking over her mind and causing her an indescribable amount of pain. Pain so real she could feel it all over her, making her stomach burn and her joints ache. "He said if I kept on lying to him and everyone else that he would...he would..."

"What, Charlotte?" He leaned in close now, eyes shining. She stared at him, mouth shut tightly, trying not to sob. At this he traced the trail of her tears with the pad of his index finger, drying her cheeks tenderly. "Tell me," he whispered quietly. "Please...if he threatened you...if he said he'd hurt you..." He shook his head back and forth, jaw tensed. Then he something so un-Daniel like that it nearly made her burst out in giggles. "Then we've got a dead Korean on our hands."

She flashed a brief smile before the image came back and caused a new, hot steam of tears. He dried it again.

"Just tell me..."

Then it came out, the word-vomit. "He said he'd hurt you, Daniel. He said he'd break your fingers one by one. He'd make you _scream_-"

"Oh God, Charlotte...I-"

"Quiet, Daniel." She couldn't be stopped now. No interruptions. She had to spill it out now- get it over with. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Sharp and quick. "And you know what that made me, Dan? It scared the living Christ out of me. I-I..." A new wave or horror took over her now- she could feel herself trembling, sobs burning her ribs and making it hard to breath. She felt so foolish, so completely ashamed, and in the moment she never hated the Korean more. He was the reason for all of this- the reason that every breath seemed like a stab in the ribs, the reason her body was shivering in horrible, tremendous fear...(a new stream of tears)..._the reason I'm going to scare Daniel away and _really_ be alone on this Godforsaken island._ It was too much to bare, and she tried to get up, to run away, until it happened.

She felt warm arms around her, ceasing her shaking at once- she could feel him against her, his blue, Oxford shirt cooling her feverish skin. His beard was against her cheek, his breath in her hair. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her heavy head on his shoulder. She could fall asleep like this, dreamless and content forever. The tears stopped, the sobs disappeared. Everything was quiet and still except for the sounds of their breathing and the waves breaking against the rocks. Then he spoke, quiet and gentle in her ear. "Don't worry about that, Charlotte. I'm here. He's not anywhere near us." A slight pause. "Besides, I can't get hurt right now."

"Of course...you have to 'rescue everyone', don't you?"

She felt his jaw setting against her own- a sharp intake of breath. "No...I need to protect you."

He shifted his cheek an inch and brought his mouth to hers, breathing deeply and kissing her without question, without hesitance. His hand steadied itself on her lower back, shoulders rising as he kissed her with every ounce of himself, her tears drying against his cheeks. She reciprocated, scooting forward and closing the millimeters between them, pressing her body against his and leading him down against the log, her soft, red hair hanging on both sides of his face. He broke the kiss, gasping, and said in a strong tone, eyes blazing, "Jin was right, Charlotte." He smiled. "Well, partially."

She kissed him again, breaking it for a split moment and panting against his neck, nose against the curve of his Adam's apple. "What's that, Dan?"

His hand was buried in her hair, beard on her forehead. "I like you. Or should I say _liked_ you, as in always." He caught his breath and kissed her hairline. "No, that's wrong, too. I love you, Charlotte. I don't think I've ever said that to a woman before and not been laughed at, but I do." Another kiss, then a whisper. _"I love you." _They rolled off the log and curled beside the fire, her back flush against his stomach, arms wrapped tightly around her. He sighed contently into her hair. "No laughter?"

She shifted in the sand, turning until she was speaking into his chest. "It's not funny because I love you back. Ever heard that one before?"

He made a low, humming sound- the one he always made when he was thinking. "Can't say I have."

The fire felt warm against her back. "Then there's a first time for everything, isn't there?"

He sighed in agreement, pulling her closer to him. For the first time since the two of them fell from the sky and onto the island, they slept peacefully and dreamlessly.

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**A/N: **Hey, you know what are good? REVIEWS. I'd thank ya kindly.


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